Chapter 6

The Media

Chapter Outline

The Media Must Matter in a Democracy

  1. Without the information provided by the media, the public could not possibly know enough to play any role in national politics.
  2. Freedom of the press is one of the first principles of democratic government.
  3. Americans get their news from three main sources: broadcast media (radio and television), print media (newspapers and magazines), and, increasingly, the Internet.
  4. Television news reaches more Americans than any other single news source. Most television news, however, covers relatively few topics and provides little depth of coverage. Television news is more like a series of newspaper headlines connected to pictures. It serves the extremely important function of alerting viewers to issues and events.
  5. Radio news is also essentially a headline service, but without pictures. One notable exception is the noncommercial National Public Radio (NPR), which provides lengthy and detailed news coverage on a daily basis.
  6. In recent years, radio talk shows have become important sources of commentary and opinion.
  7. The print media are important for three reasons. First, the broadcast media rely on leading newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post to set their news agenda. Second, the print media provide more detailed and complete information, offering a better context for analysis. Third, the print media are the prime source of news for educated and influential individuals.
  8. The Internet has been growing in importance as a news source. One great advantage of theInternet is that it allows frequent updating. A growing number of readers turn to informal sources of Internet news and commentary like blogs.
  9. In the United States, the print media are essentially free from government interference. The broadcast media are subject to federal regulation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an independent regulatory agency.
  10. Government regulation of the broadcast media is allowed because of two distinctive traits of the broadcast media: first, the resource they use, radio and television frequency broadcast bands, is limited in number, a fact that encourages government regulation to ensure some degree of equitable access to this limited resource; second, the air through which broadcast waves pass is inherently public, which means that the government has an obligation to protect the public interest.
  11. The number of sources of national news is actually quite small. The trend toward the homogenization of national news has been hastened by dramatic changes in media ownership, which became possible in large part due to the relaxation of government regulations in the 1980s and 1990s.
  12. As major newspapers, television stations, and radio networks fall into fewer and fewer hands, the risk increases that less popular or minority viewpoints and the politicians who express them will have difficulty finding a public forum in which to disseminate their ideas. Increasingly, such individuals turn to the Internet to express their views.
  13. Nationalization of the news has contributed greatly to the nationalization of politics and of political perspectives in the United States.

News Coverage Matters Because People Rely on It

  1. Media content and news coverage are inevitably affected by the views, ideals, and interests of the journalists who seek out, write, and produce news stories.
  2. News coverage is also influenced by the individuals or groups who are subjects of the news or whose interests and activities are actual or potential news topics.
  3. Because the print and broadcast media are businesses that generally seek a profit, they must cater to the preferences of consumers.
  4. The print and broadcast media, as well as the publishing industry, are particularly responsive to the interests and views of the upscale segments of their audiences.
  5. Protest is one way that groups who cannot afford the services of media consultants and issues managers can publicize their views and interests.

The Media Affect Power Relations in American Politics

  1. The power of the media is the media’s great influence in setting the political agenda, shaping electoral outcomes, and interpreting events and political results.
  2. “Agenda setting” refers to the power of the media to bring public attention to particular issues and problems.
  3. “Framing” is the media’s ability to influence how the American people interpret political events and results.
  4. “Priming” occurs when media coverage affects the way the public evaluates political leaders, issues, and events.

The Media Are More Partisan than Ever

  1. Because the media provide the information citizens need for meaningful participation in the political process, they are essential to democratic government.
  2. Today’s media are not only adversarial but also increasingly partisan. There are so many news sources today that few can aim for a national audience.Instead, they target a partisan or ideological niche and aim to develop a strong relationship with consumers in that audience segment by catering to their biases and predispositions.
  3. The decline of political parties has given the media enormous power, which creates a great potential for abuse.
  4. It is important to rely on more than one source of news. The best approach is to make use of news sources with disparate ideological perspectives.